What influenced you to go and buy your first Tarot deck?

If any of you are "Mad Men" fans, you've no doubt noticed The Sun card from the Rider-Waite-Smith deck appears in the end credits of the show.

I was always curious about this and then I heard an interview with the creator of the show, Matthew Weiner where he explains it.

As a writer, he said he often used Tarot to sort of see the future of his characters, to help plot their next moves.

I thought that was amazing.

And that was when I took up Tarot myself and began with The Rider-Waite-Smith deck. Initially I saw reading Tarot as a way of making life more interesting, more magical, to use it to open the doors of my imagination, to spark creative thinking.

Anyway, that was my original start, my original inspiration with tarot. Can anyone else share their "origin story" of how they got into Tarot?

A different take on the Sun card. It's probably not one I'll add to my collection, as I find that period of art interesting rather than appealing, but I can certainly appreciate the work - I hope it does well for you.

funnily enough, I started Tarot through a writer friend who did exactly that - reading for her characters. She also - when reading generally - had a view of Tarot that made sense to me (an atheist - rationalist) in terms of seeing a picture of where you're at, rather than 'fortune telling'. It seemed interesting to me, and I liked the classical and religious symbolism, so decided to give it a try.

I started young....13 or so I guess. No one I knew read Tarot - didn't even know it existed. But, like a lot of teens I imagine, I was seeking answers to things that were a big deal to me at the time, and church wasn't getting me anywhere (well the people at church anyway.) I was within walking distance to a quaint, but well diversified, library and had an amazing thing...a library card....

Mom was just about willing to let me try anything to help me with my depression so I'd roam the library. I stumbled on the "occult" section which had everything from Tarot, automatic writing, astral travel, Astrology - mostly sun sign stuff but one specific to moon signs, palmistry. So I checked out everything I could carry, and when I was done with it all, I requested stuff from other library branches (that could be delivered to that one) to check out.

I was fascinated by almost everything in that section, and tried it. I had playing cards but requested a tarot deck and, well, she drove me to get one Amazing mom. I believe my first deck was Morgan Greer, but I was working at 14 so had my "own" money, and my collection grew based on what the local store had.

I love your story.

I had a library card too as a little girl. Best thing ever. If I close my eyes I can remember the smell of my neighborhood library.

I cannot remember what made me go out and buy a deck, but it happened when I was in uni/college. It was as a distraction really from the real hardcore studies and hitting the midnight oil. I learnt Tarot and Palm reading at the same time, but never stuck with either for different reasons.

I think it was a pleasant distraction for me, so that is why I studied it on the side.

DND

I was browsing at my local Borders (sorry they are no longer around) and was in the section they called "Metaphysical". I wasn't even thinking about tarot, or cards of any kind. There was a display of decks at the end of one of the rows, behind clear plexiglass doors, and as I walked past, my eye was caught by "Tarot of the Old Path", and the image of "The Universe" literally stopped me in my tracks.

My actual 'first' was the Gilded, bought as part of a set, in a bookstore. Random curiosity was the influence there. That deck vanished long ago, but I still have the book.

A few years ago, I bought the Ceccoli tarot deck, because I was intrigued by her artwork. At the same time, I bought a 'tarot for writers' book, just curious about how one might use tarot as a creative influence.

The next thing you know, I've discovered AT and bought all kinds of other decks, LOL!! The Wild Unknown (v. 2) was the deck that really sparked my interest, and inspired me to learn more about the cards. I'd say that one deck seems to have influenced my long term interest the most. Line drawings have always been a favorite, and I really like the style of the deck. Enough info on the card for a newbie to at least look things up, but open enough to let free association play around.

I was wandering through B. Dalton (anyone remember them?) back in the summer of 1983 and an odd little box caught my interest. It said "Aleister Crowley Thoth Tarot Deck". Now by that time I knew who Crowley was, what Tarot is (and the pictures I'd seen of the RWS pack did nothing for me), and who Thoth is.

So there went a most of week's worth of newspaper route money. Then I ran across a copy of Uncle Al's "Book of Thoth", and my fate was sealed.

Only later did I find that I'd done the Tarot equivalent of jumping overboard in the Arctic with a cast-iron life vest.

I was in Germany in 1970 and a friend had a copy of the Aquarian Tarot shipped to him. As a graphic arts student, I was fascinated by the imagery, and had also been studying astrology prior to that event. When I returned home I immediately sought out a deck of my own, and the only one available was the Thoth (talk about jumping into the deep end), so that became my first and only deck until 2011.

Well my mom bought it for me when i was 18. It was a present so i didn't decide for myself.She had an old marseille tarot deck and did some readings for me and i was always asking too many questions. She bought my Wirth deck so that i can start practicing and learn. It's my favourite deck and it's the one i use the most,because it was the first and because it was a present from my mother